Getting feedback from customers doesn’t need to be overly complicated. A few months ago I ordered a couple of pizzas for my daughter and her friend. When the pizza arrived, I was surprised to see a bright yellow sticker on one of the boxes. No frills, just a little square, with black text, and a straight forward request.

“Email us a picture of the pizza inside this box and we’ll send you a coupon…”

Amused, I snapped a couple of pictures and sent the message on it’s way. That’s it… A simple solution, that delivered real-time, actionable, feedback for minimal cost. In a day and age where NPS is everywhere, it was refreshing to see a company trying something different.

Collaborating with a new colleague? Spending the time to get to know a each other before jumping straight into the work will help set the groundwork for a healthy and productive working relationship. Answer these questions to build a healthy and productive working relationship.

Motivation
- What motivates…

Make the commitment to send better emails in 2021. Here are three easy ways to level up your email skills.

What’s Your Why?
Ask yourself… Why am I sending this email and what do I want the person who receives it to do after they read it? What is the main goal of your email?

Make it Clear and Easy
Make it as easy as possible for your email recipient(s) to understand what’s going on and what they need to do. Break up dense text to reduce eye strain and use bullet points to add clarity.

Have Empathy…
It’s safe to assume that the person receiving your email has other stuff going on in their day outside of waiting for your message. And just because it’s important to you, doesn’t mean it will be to them. So a little empathy will go a long way.

Understanding the 4 Stages of Group Development. In 1965, a psychologist named Bruce Tuckman identified a 4 stage model of group development. The 4 stages that were identified are:

Forming:
The first stage is Forming, and the primary focus in this stage is on the people. This includes defining roles, building relationships, creating structure and developing group norms.

Storming:
As time goes on, conflicts eventually arise and teams transition into the Storming stage. This is when frustration and disagreements about roles, goals, and responsibilities begin to surface.

Norming:
During the Norming stage, team members resolve their differences and begin to shift their energy toward the team’s goals. Members start to feel like they are part of a team and can take pleasure from the increased group cohesion.

Performing:
In the Performing stage, processes, structures, and relationships work without friction and the team makes significant progress towards its goals.

Q:What can you do to keep the momentum after a meeting? You’ve already taken the time to meet. Don’t waste it by letting the meeting fizzle out at the end.

Document key decisions, next steps, and owners

• Document and confirm key decisions, next steps, and task owners BEFORE you end the meeting.
• Assuming that everyone is aligned, without confirmation, increases the likelihood you’ll lose momentum after the meeting.

Communicate outcomes

• What did you accomplish during the meeting?
• Sharing outcomes will help maintain momentum while increasing transparency and accountability.

Key takeaway

• The key to maintaining momentum is to ensure that every attendee leaves with a clear understanding of what was agreed on during the meeting, what the next steps are, and who will be held accountable for completing open tasks.

Q: What can I do to get better at meeting planning? In the boating world frames are used to support the hull and give a boat its shape and strength. In the planning world, framing can be used to strengthen focus, and shape outcomes.

And one of the best things you can do to get better at meeting planning is to make time, before the meeting, to assess the current situation and frame the challenge, or problem you want to solve during the meeting.

Questions to answer

1. What’s going on? Describe the current situation.
2. Why does the current situation need to change and what challenge, or problem, are you really trying to solve